A nuclear time bomb explodes

Kizat Kuzembayev stands to attention as vistors enter his hospital ward. Medals are pinned to his dressing gown befitting his status as a war hero. He is 79 and suffers from terminal stomach cancer. In front of two other cancer patients who share his room, he explains how he served with a reconnaissance unit in Danzig during the second world war, receiving the order of glory, the order of the red star and the great patriot ’s war medal for bravery. These were the highest decorations for ordinary soldiers in the Soviet army.

Yet despite his obvious bravery, Kuzembayev’s military valour seems incongruous in this tiny room. For all the sacrifices he made, the Soviets did not reward him. In common with 1.5m people in the eastern Kazakhstan province of Semipalatinsk, he was deliberately exposed to the effects of nuclear weapons tests.